In the silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material, as the dye image forming agents therefor, yellow, magenta and cyan couplers are usually used in combination. These couplers are required to have basic performance characteristics such as color-forming characteristics, storage stability, resulting image's color reproduction quality, and image keeping quality. Particularly, in the color photographic light-sensitive material to be provided for direct appreciation, such as color photographic paper, since importance is attached to white background, it is required for the paper to inhibit color stain such as color fog to the utmost.
In order to inhibit the color fog, an antistain agent such as a hydroquinon derivative is used. The oxidation product of a developing agent that has been produced for some reason in an unexposed area of the light-sensitive material, before coming into its coupling reaction with a coupler, is subjected to scavenge treatment with the antistain agent, whereby the occurrence of color fog can be inhibited. As is predicted from such the mechanism, if the antistain agent is used in plenty, it would impair the color-forming characteristics of the coupler, bringing about problems of the maximum density drop and contrast reduction. The excessive use of the antistain agent causes a problem of deteriorating the dye image's resistance to light as described in Japanese Patent Publication Open to Public Inspection (hereinafter abbreviated to JP O.P.I.) No. 275261/1987. Thus, an attempt made to efficiently prevent the occurrence of color fog is forced into dilemma by causing at the same time the lowering of the maximum density and deterioration of the resistance to light.